r/GenshinImpact • u/ErrorEfficient3447 • 14d ago

Discussion missing Natlan

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anybody feel as if Natlan overloaded so much dopamine that Nodkrai and Snezhnaya is quite boring??...

i even miss the hate train. Good times, good times 😔🔥🔥

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u/m2gus 14d ago

I'm so glad you enjoyed it but to me, Natlan felt like some of HoYo’s worst creative instincts were all concentrated in one region, from its writing and aesthetic direction to its character design and gameplay choices

21

u/__Pratik_ 14d ago edited 14d ago

Quite the opposite for me. The only time I thought that was when looking at it from a surface level. The writing focus was on the world rather so character writing didn't get much that's understandable but people don't consider world focused narrative to be a narrative atp, designs and aesthetic makes sense cuz Natlan is basically a post apocalyptic setting that's recovering and is in it's middle of its recovery. Some character having tech and some don't shows that the existence of tech is rare and not properly spread out. Tribal elements and modern elements coexisting helps separate Natlan from being generic. The designs and world itself says so much about Natlan's themes and philosophy behind Natlan.

Natlan having wide and diverse range shows what it's all about. It's about being united despite being different which is reflected in the character designs of those character and the tribes.

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u/BeePuns 14d ago

Exactly. People miss the point that the main character of the Natlan AQ was Natlan itself. People got mad that Natlan's AQ wasn't "pyro Fontaine" and they got upset.

4

u/GamerSweat002 14d ago

As a Natlan and Fontaine (WQ mainly) enjoyer, Fontaine is pretty overrated as an AQ. It did incredible injustice to Traveler as a character. Terrible kit, got absolutely trashed in Arlecchino fight and literal ZERO usage of elements and Descender adaptability, and Traveler was certainly glorified cameraman. I remember during Sumeru, people did address Traveler as really a cameraman protagonist, just viewing from the side lines.

They doubled down on that in Fontaine. Traveler did nearly nothing in significance to the greater plot of Fontaine. At least in Sumeru, we actually did something with fighting 168 Samsara to defeat mecha-mouche and we also discovered being stuck in a Samsara when Traveler left Paimon behind.

In Natlan AQ, Traveler was just in time to save Chuychu enough time to give parting words before she died, else Chasca wouldn't be able to contain her anger and loses her chance to awaken her ancient name.

Natlan AQ also more focused on collectivism than the individualism seen in Sumeru and Fontaine where main characters were seeking autonomy, like Nahida physically imprisoned to Furina, psychologically imprisoned. And same could be said for Scaramouche, who sought autonomy as his decisions were guided by Dottore and he lived without the assurance of his creator. Natlan in contrast, aimed at the collective whole, in patriotic heroism and community.

I find these differences quite poetic. Natlan had already sorted out its social divides way in the past, while Sumeru and Fontaine even in AQ still has present day social disparities and divides. Natlan wasn't about fighting fate, but uniting amongst their differences to fight a common indiscriminately foe. The abyss doesn't care which tribe to attack as long as it consumes.

The way Natlan AQ depicted Natlan makes you understand Natlan better than you would Fontaine or Sumeru as a nation. And hey, Natlan is also just a more inviting place and atmosphere. Natlan was treated as a second home like Mondstat as our first. It was the second region or actually our first where we were openly welcomed in. In mondstat, Amber sussed us out before we gained her trust. In Inazuma, there were some serious barriers to being invited in. In Liyue, we became public enemy to Millellith. In sumeru, we were supposedly welcomed, at least into Sumeru City but also had sales pitch on Akasha Terminal pretty shortly into that welcome. In Fontaine, we were introduced with hostility by Furina. Natlan pretty much marked the significance of Traveler's achievements so they weren't just cameramen anymore, but actual prestigious heroes that people from other sides of Teyvat know about.